2020 April

Small Robots Play a Big Role in Automation

Compact tabletop machines are becoming more popular with manufacturers

April 2, 2020

In basketball, the most flexible player is often the smallest person on the team. Small robots play a similar role in manufacturing.

Options for Tinning Wire

Whether applied manually or by a machine, the tinning process improves the mechanical strength of bare copper wire

Jim Camillo

April 10, 2020

Like any assembly skill, manual soldering of wire can be learned through proper training. This training begins by teaching the person how to cleanly strip, tin and solder the wire to a connector, PCB or terminal.

Cutting and Stripping Coax

The latest technology for stripping coaxial cable gives engineers unprecedented control

John Sprovieri

April 13, 2020

Stripping coaxial cables places high demands on processing equipment. Several thin, concentric layers must be carefully removed within a single cycle: insulation, metal braiding, foil and dielectric. The strip length must be exceptionally accurate, since the tolerance ranges of coaxial connectors are narrow.

Pull-Force Testing Crimped Wires

Consistency is key in pull-force testing

Zoe Leduc

April 9, 2020

Of the many steps in the process of assembling a wire harness, testing the crimped terminal is a crucial one. If the terminal hasn't been properly attached to the end of the wire, it can cause the wire and eventually the entire wire harness to fail. Most manufacturers use pull testing to assess crimped connections and ensure that terminals are properly attached.

Appliance Makers Keep It Together With PSAs

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are helping appliance assemblers enhance aesthetics, performance and reliability

Michael G. Price II

April 8, 2020

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are helping appliance assemblers enhance aesthetics, performance and reliability

Threaded Fasteners for Plastics Assembly

Here are some tips, tricks and suggestions for using threaded fasteners to assemble plastic parts

John Sprovieri

April 7, 2020

With so many ways to formulate plastic to get just the right combination of color, texture, strength and durability, it’s easy to forget how the parts will be assembled. However, if the parts will be assembled with screws, overlooking such parameters as thread style, driver speed and boss design could spell disaster on the assembly line.

New Process Welds Clear Plastic Parts

Clear polymer materials can be successfully bonded with a new process that combines simultaneous through-transmission infrared laser welding with precision ultrasonic spray deposition technology

Tom Hoover

April 6, 2020

Laser welding of plastic parts creates precise, high-quality, particulate-free joints for medical devices, consumer products and other assemblies. However, for the process to work, the laser light must pass through the top part to be absorbed by the bottom part. Welding a clear plastic part to another clear plastic part was not possible.

Alternatives to Pallet-Transfer Conveyors

Need to linearly index parts and subassemblies with accuracy and repeatability? Consider precision-link conveyors and walking beams

Jim Camillo

April 3, 2020

There are many ways to linearly move an object from point A to point B on an assembly line. But, not all of them are designed to optimize speed, accuracy and repeatability while performing the task.

Aligning Interests of Domestic Manufacturers and Consumers

Harry Moser

April 16, 2020

For decades, Americans worried about our manufacturing sector. People believed U.S.-made goods were too expensive or poorly made.

Optical Micrometer Directly Detects Defects in Stamped Metal Parts

Jim Camillo

April 15, 2020

High-quality carbide cutting tools are essential for CNC machines such as lathes and routers. Possehl France SAS knows this quite well, and has specialized in precisely stamping metal parts used in these tools for more than 45 years.

Mini Bearings Keep Radio-Control-Car Driver in Winner’s Circle

Jim Camillo

April 14, 2020

Remote radio-control car racing has experienced tremendous growth over the past two decades. There are even national (Remotely Operated Auto Racers) and world governing bodies (International Federation of Model Auto Racing), the latter having been established in 1979.

Illuminated Steering Wheel Equipped With 3D-Printed Electronics

Jim Camillo

April 13, 2020

Production-ready, 3D-printed automotive parts have been slowly entering the market the past few years. Now, they’re as important as the thousands of metal and plastic parts produced using traditional casting, injection molding, stamping and machining processes.

Fixtures, Mobile Robots Ease Assembly of Jet Wings

Jim Camillo

April 9, 2020

Developing new aircraft is always a challenge, but one that engineers at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. (GAC) have successfully dealt with for more than 60 years. GAC produces state-of-the-art corporate jets for companies and governments all around the world, with hundreds of them currently in operation.

Nissan Retools for an Electrified Future

Austin Weber

April 8, 2020

Automakers are scrambling to build a new generation of vehicles that are intelligent, connected and electrified. That’s forcing engineers to rethink how traditional assembly lines and production processes function.

A Bright Idea for Feeding Lightbulbs and Other Delicate Parts

John Sprovieri

April 7, 2020

Consumers spend some $1 billion to buy 2 billion lightbulbs each year in the U.S. That’s more than 6 million every day. High-speed automated assembly is the only way to meet that kind of volume.

Five Things: Robotics

John Sprovieri

April 6, 2020

Ford Motor Co. has begun testing a human-like robot, called Digit, with two arms and two legs for loading and unloading delivery vans.

Pandemic Disrupts U.S. Manufacturing

At best, the pandemic has been an inconvenience. At worst, it has led to part shortages and plant shutdowns

John Sprovieri

April 2, 2020

How quickly things change. On March 1, I was one of 15,000 people watching the Chicago Cubs play a spring training game at a ballpark in Mesa, AZ. It was warm and sunny, the beer was cold, and I had not a care in the world.